


In the Dark

by amerasu1013 (amerasu_1013)



Series: Light in the Dark [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-27
Packaged: 2018-07-10 14:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6988351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amerasu_1013/pseuds/amerasu1013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Winter Soldier, lost and confused after the events at the Triskelion, searches for his handler. The man he finds is not Brock Rumlow even if he looks like him, he's someone else entirely - but maybe he can still help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago, but somehow forgot about it... takes place after Cap 2 but way before Civil War. I'll still pretend this is exactly what happened in between the two movies... ;)  
> Betaed, as usual, by the lovely zilldk. Thank you very much, darling!! Also for the title ideas :D  
> PS: All remaining mistakes are mine, but I'll use my usual excuse: I'm not a native speaker :P

It’s not a sound that wakes him; his night-time visitor is entirely silent. It’s more the absence of sound, or maybe the air being displaced when a body suddenly appears where before there was only empty space. Leo’s senses are still sharp as a knife, even if it’s been years since he’s left the army, his violent and bloody past making sure he’s attuned to sensing trouble and alerting him to the slightest change in his environment. He wakes up suddenly, his entire body tense and alert. He doesn’t open his eyes more than the barest slit to look around, but the stranger in his apartment knows he’s awake, because the dark shape in the corner moves a step closer. Leo reaches for the gun in his nightstand, cursing himself for not keeping it under his pillow, closer, within immediate reach, but the stranger does not move closer, stands entirely still and silent, looking down at Leo from eyes hidden behind long, greasy hair.

The moon peers in through the window, a silent witness to this scene they create: Leo sitting up in his bed, a gun pointed at the stranger suddenly appearing in his bedroom and the dark-haired man silently staring at him, arms at his sides, no weapons visible except for the strange glint of metal in the stranger’s left hand. Gun? Knife? Leo tenses.

The stranger shifts and swallows, opens his mouth but only a croaking sound emerges. He ducks his head, shifts uncomfortably, hands clenching at his sides and that metallic glint appears again. The stranger tries again: “Orders. I need... Mission failed. What are my... Mission. _P-please_.”

Leo sits up straight and carefully lowers his gun, then slowly reaches out to switch on the lamp on his nightstand. His brain, which can’t _not_ categorize everybody he encounters, sorting them into civilians, possible threats, possible allies, cataloguing body language, pose, clothing, facial expressions, goes from ‘threat, neutralize’ to ‘possible threat, monitor situation’ to ‘victim’ and straight on to ‘what the fuck’. The stranger stares at him, something wild and desperate in his eyes, hands balling into fists and shit, that is not a weapon in his left hand, that _is_ his left hand, something like a metal glove or some really advanced prosthetics.

The stranger says it again, voice soft and scared, looking lost and confused: “What’s my mission?”

It’s clear Leo’s nighttime visitor thinks he’s someone else, probably has a CO somewhere he’s trying to get back to. Leo has no idea why he’s instead decided to come here, to Leo – he’s no one’s CO, not anymore. He’s… nobody, really, just a lost, lonely, heart-broken man with a dead son and nothing else to live for. No friends, no relatives, an ex-wife that came visiting him in the hospital after Purge Night and stared at him with pity in her eyes. Nobody really ever looks at him, Leo hides in the shadows that match the darkness inside him, but this stranger, this lost, confused man is looking at him. Not just looking, staring, begging with his eyes, asking Leo for a mission, for help.

Those eyes… so young and old at the same time, dark and traumatized, filled with things that Leo has seen before. They remind him of his own eyes, when he wakes up after a nightmare, speaking of memories and regrets, dark and violent things he’s seen and done and the desperate knowledge that he’ll never be rid of them, they’ll always be a part of him. Every dirty deed, every death, every time he… there’s a monster hiding behind Leo’s eyes, put there by life and the military and orders, put there by Leo himself. There’s a monster hiding behind the stranger’s eyes as well, Leo can see it. Dark things are in this man’s past, bloody, violent things, pain and suffering, that of other people and his own. Just like in Leo’ past. Maybe that’s why he puts down the gun and slowly stands up from his bed, keeping his hands visible to show he’s not a threat.

Or maybe he does have a soft heart after all, even with the bitterness and anger wrapped around him like an impenetrable shell. A girl and her mother, a young couple, pleading a stranger to help them survive a horrible night. A dark-haired, metal-armed man looking for someone else but finding Leo…

He stops in front of the stranger, who takes a wary step back. “I’m not who you think I am.” Leo says slowly, keeping his voice soft. “My name’s Leo Barnes.”

“Barnes?” the stranger croaks and suddenly looks anxious. “Barnes?”

Leo nods. “Yeah, that’s me. I think you’re looking for someone else.”

The stranger closes his eyes and seems to slump. “I don’t remember,” he whispers, “I don’t… I need a mission. I need… where’s Steve?”

Leo frowns. Crap. Memory loss? And apparently looking for someone named Steve? Is that his CO? But why call him ‘Steve’ then, a last name would be more appropriate. Maybe Steve’s a friend? Someone who can help?

“I don’t know where Steve is,” he says and the stranger looks… devastated. “But I’ll help you find him, if you want.”

He’s not sure why he’s even offering this, he should call the cops or an ambulance, get this guy some serious help and/or a jail cell, those dark stains are definitely blood and a lot of it, but… those eyes are still looking at Leo, dark and lost, but hope starts to glimmer in them. “I need to… I need to find Steve. He’s my mission. He’s my _friend_.”

“Then we better make sure we find him.” Leo says and offers the man his hand. The stranger doesn’t move for a long time, but eventually he reaches out and grasps Leo’s hand. He doesn’t say anything, but the pain in his face is slowly being replaced by hope and a gratefulness that’s frankly disturbing. It’s almost like the guy is surprised by people being… nice to him. Who the fuck is this guy? And what must he have been through, to be this surprised and grateful for Leo saying he’d help him? _Shit_.

Maybe Leo really is a sucker for helpless people, can’t drive on or look away when they need him. And this guy, this stranger, _is_ helpless, despite the fact that he’s clearly trained (former?) military and covered in somebody else’s blood. He’s lost and confused, traumatized and afraid and well… Leo couldn’t drive on when Cali and Eva needed him, he can’t look away now, he just can’t. So he shakes the stranger’s hand and repeats: “We’ll find him, your Steve. We’ll find him.”

A hesitant but hopeful smile appears on that gaunt face and Leo sighs a little. Looks like his life of quiet and solitude is once again about to come to an end. But looking at the stranger’s hopeful face, he really can’t bring himself to mind.


End file.
